Airway Heights TBD funds mostly used for matches

During the Oct. 17 Airway Heights Transportation Benefit District (TBD) meeting, Councilman Doyle Inman posed a question to Public Works Director Kevin Anderson.

"Where is the money going?" Inman asked of the funds the district has been collecting since it was established.

Anderson explained that most of TBD dollars are being used for matching funds for state and federal grants to help pay for street and road improvement projects. Most grants have a 10-20 percent match.

Airway Heights created the TBD in April 2013 to help collect money to fund street, road and sidewalk improvement projects. To help fund projects, the city proposed a 0.2 percent sales tax increase - from 8.7-8.9 percent - which voters approved in November 2013 and took effect in April 2014. The length of time on the sales tax increase is 10 years.

Anderson said the district collects approximately $350,000 per year. In 2015, the city collected $367,992.75. The end of the year projection for 2016 is at $720,000. As of October of this year, the fund balance is currently at $822,923.02.

Anderson explained that the most effective way to use the TBD dollars is for matching funds for grants to help pay for bigger projects. For example, the district can use $3.5 million to pay a 20 percent match on a $17.5 million grant. If the match is 10 percent, those funds could be used for a $35 million grant.

Projects will be selected from the city's six-year transportation improvement plan. To prioritize projects for the plan, Anderson said his department surveyed every road, sidewalk and storm drain. Each segment was given a pavement conditioning rating based on several factors, including pavement condition, type of route, traffic level, economic impact, funding eligibility and public input.

"We came up with a list of projects and divided it into paved roads, gravel roads, sidewalks and capacity-related improvements," Anderson said.

One of the projects completed through TBD dollars in 2016, was the McFarlane Road restoration and overlay project, which cost $692,000. The majority of the project was paid through an arterial improvement grant.

"It wasn't at the top of the list (of projects) and the funding application process preceded me," Anderson said. "The idea was the project had heavy truck traffic and showed signs of distress."

One of the projects scheduled for 2017 is the Garfield/Sixth Avenue/Russell Road project, which is estimated at $2 million, with the city paying a $200,000 match.

Anderson noted that council could direct staff into using TBD dollars to fund projects without using grants.

"If council says 21st Avenue needs to be paved and they want to use $1 million to pave it, they can do that," Anderson said.

In the spring, Anderson said staff will provide opportunities for the public to provide input on projects they would like to see in the city's six-year transportation improvement plan update, which is scheduled for adoption in June.

"The stream of funds for the TBD is healthy for sure and we are budgeting expenditures for the monies collected, but we need to be as wise as we can in using that money," Anderson said.

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.